207. Heretic Questioner (5)
‘Damn it. Where should I go?’
Iris was not responding to communications at all.
It was the same for the tree.
She couldn’t tell where they were at all, so she couldn’t even figure out which direction to run.
I was really in a hurry, but first I had to gather information.
She was about to turn the tide towards Pleschette Mansion.
“aaagh!”
From noble mtl dot com.
“·······?”
A high-pitched scream came from far away.
But the direction was strange.
It seems like it’s coming from above…
“To the tree?”
That’s right.
Trie was struggling and falling from the sky.
“Run!”
I immediately started the horse and galloped off.
I was running completely the wrong way down the road, but I didn’t care at all.
A normal wizard could calmly stop it with wind magic or gravity magic in that situation, but Trie’s aiming skills are beyond imagination.
I will never be able to target my body with magic and slow it down.
“Trie! Spread your body as wide as possible!”
“Shu, Schluss?”
“Quickly!”
Immediately, a wind magic spell was deployed, and a strong wind was blown up from below.
Then, Trier’s body slowed down little by little-
“Kuh?!”
“Kyaaak!”
I was able to finally catch the tree after throwing my body.
I slipped on the stone floor and ruined my pants.
I’ll have to buy another pair of school uniform pants.
I wonder how many times this has happened…
But that wasn’t the point right now.
The problem is that the lightning strikes suddenly in the dry sky, no, the lightning strikes the tree.
“Ugh. Where is this place?”
“In front of City Hall. What are you talking about, Trier?”
“What? So this is the middle of the archipelago?”
Trier, who was groaning while holding on to his waist, jumped up and looked around.
Then his face turned white and he grabbed my shoulder.
“Schluss! Iris is in danger!”
“Yes. I know that. If you tell me where you are-“
“Outside the islands. I was attacked by Heretic Questioners on the road heading south.”
“What?”
Have you been attacked outside the island?
But how the heck did Tree get here?
No, more than that…
“The Heretic Questioners? Not just one?”
“How do I explain this? It used to be one person? But suddenly another one appeared overhead…”
“Trie. Are there any punctures on your body?”
“Huh? Huh?”
As soon as I heard it, I felt it.
A set-up teleportation technique that is being developed by the Vatican’s secret laboratory.
In the original work, that technique was never developed.
Because the Vatican on that world, in solidarity with the Empire, was devoting all its energy to finding Asylum, and was unable to fund such inefficient research.
But what about the Holy See in this world?
Since the hegemon of the continent has turned its back amid the infestation of cults, a powerful tool must have been needed to restore the authority of the Vatican.
For example, magic powerful enough to be called the power of a god…
“Ah! Ah! Ahhhhh… What are you doing…”
“Stay still.”
I opened all the gaps in Trie’s armor and started checking for even the slightest wound.
Then I found one.
The back of the neck.
It was a very light cut that was almost skinned.
“Ouch!”
I pressed the wound with my fingernails and popped it again.
Then the blood flowed and the information from the inner veins flowed into me.
“Trie. The spell is engraved inside your body.”
“What? I didn’t notice at all?”
“It’s unlikely. It’s very cleverly hidden away. It’s installed as far from the heart as possible.”
“How did such a spell blow my body all the way here?”
The engineer is trained to react very sensitively to the interference of the internal circuit.
The moment you try to get even a little closer to the heart, the whole body resists intensely.
However, this spell didn’t even try to get close to the heart.
Staying at the capillary stage, just waiting.
Paying attention to each thin capillary was impossible even for a seasoned knight.
The reason why Trie didn’t notice that the spell inside her body was activated is that she herself activated the spell.
“You yourself gave your consent to the activation of the spell.”
“No? I’ve never been like that?”
“Your body agreed even though you never did.”
Strictly speaking, I should say that Trier’s metabolism did just that.
The movement part of the spell was designed to react according to Trier’s respiration, heartbeat, pulse, and blood flow.
Unbeknownst to him, Trie had activated the spell implanted in his body by himself.
“Perhaps it’s a spell to switch places with another creature…”
I saw the doves disappearing from where Trier was earlier.
It must be that the location of the dove and tree have changed.
No, wait a minute.
“Trie. I’ll take a closer look.”
“Ayaya…”
I tried hard to read the information of the spell while pressing my finger on Trie’s wound.
If this spell was really a spell to change the location of users, the pigeon would have been summoned near Iris.
So, if I can use this spell, I can immediately move to Iris’s side.
‘Crazy. What’s this.’
But as soon as I checked the state of the spell, I started to sigh.
The size of the spell was small, but it was extremely complicated.
There’s no way the original spell could have looked like this, and it must have been attached with four feet that didn’t actually function at all, making it difficult to interpret.
This sincerity that makes it difficult to even find out what the core is is living very high…
‘Selection and concentration. 1 Second used for calculation power.’
Even if you met the wrong person, you met the wrong person for a long time.
Because I have the ability to interpret in one second a spell that would require dozens of professors to rush in and analyze for months.
In an instant, the unnecessary parts of the formula were removed, and only the core remained, hovering around my fingertips.
“Okay. Now I can implement it.”
“Already?!”
There was just one problem.
The amount of mana required to deploy a single spell was too great.
It consumes almost 90,000 mana all at once, so I can only use it once if I use ‘Selection and Concentration’ on my mana.
“You only get one chance. But only one person can go to the tree. Can you do it?”
“·······.”
Trie has already taken a peek at their fighting methods.
So if we fight for the second time, I think we can win.
“No…”
But Trier answered that by shaking his head.
Trie is giving up?
“Chullus. You go.”
“Why?”
“I want to go… I want to correct my mistake… But there’s Schluse. If only one person can go, it has to be you, Schlust, not me.”
“·······.”
Trie said with her teeth clenched.
At first glance, it sounded like I had to go because I was stronger, but I could see Trier’s hand trembling as she hid behind her.
Trie, who has an indomitable fighting spirit and gets up 8 times even if she falls 7 times, was afraid.
That’s why he’s such an overwhelming opponent.
In 1v1 sparring, the fact that I could count on one hand the number of times I’ve beaten Trier didn’t matter too much.
If Triae is in such a state, sending it by force won’t bring good results.
I have no choice but to go.
“Bring the police to Iris’ location. I’ll be there first.”
“Yes…”
I took out my dagger and cut my wrist slightly.
Then I closed my eyes and connected to the blood flow inside.
‘Selection and concentration. It uses 1 second for magic.’
A spell containing all of the Vatican’s technical skills.
The magic formula of teleportation was engraved into me.
With this, the user of the spell should have been fully recognized as me.
Now there was no time to hesitate.
Because Iris will be in danger if we don’t go faster, even for a second.
“Please save Iris…”
“I’ll be back.”
Pod.
Suddenly, I felt sick to my stomach and my vision suddenly changed.
It was all blue in front of my eyes.
“Ugh?!”
No. I was teleported above the sky.
While in free fall, I quickly looked around and surveyed the ground.
I was able to find a wrecked wagon not far away.
In front of him are two large men.
And…
“What the f*ck.”
One nun is lying on the floor, bleeding.
Suddenly, the internal circuits of the whole body started to work like crazy.
Nosebleeds flowed down and blood vessels burst from his eyes.
***
“Ah… Ah…”
Dark red blood dripped on the grass of the green meadow.
Iris grabbed her by the stomach and collapsed in front of her, causing her body to shrink.
“I’m so sorry, little saint.”
“If you turned your back on the church with the body of a saint, it would mean that you were prepared for this to happen. I think I delivered the message of warning enough, but it’s really regrettable that it happened like this.”
From noble mtl dot com.
The healing magic didn’t work at all.
It was only then that Iris was able to recognize the identity of the ominous aura drifting from the tip of her spear.
That was magical energy.
The simplest yet most fundamental poison that interferes with the operation of magical power and renders healing magic useless.
She desperately tried to block her wound with both of her hands, but Iris’s slender arms couldn’t stop the blood that was constantly gushing out of her.
“I will end her life.”
“No. It is rude to inflict two wounds on a saintess’ body. Let her bleed to death like this… Huh?”
“What happened.”
Sensing an anomaly, Servanov raised his head.
Similarly, the other heretic questioners who felt unusual energy also looked up at the sky.
Something dark was falling from there.
Kooung······!
It fell straight down and hit the ground, turning the soil upside down.
The Heretic Questioners, taken aback by the large amount of magical energy emanating from it, quickly aimed their spears and prepared for battle.
“People…?”
It definitely had a human shape.
A human who scatters magical energy that wouldn’t be strange even if an ancient monster emitted it.
There was only one thing that came to their faithful minds.
Devil.
I had the impression that the devil had climbed up from hell and appeared in the present world.
“Collock! Keheuk! If I do this, I’m going to die of being poisoned by magic energy.”
“Quickly pincers to kill.”
Due to the magic energy, a black fog was forming, making it impossible to properly see the appearance.
As he began to walk away, his eyes glowed in the fog, and a blue flash emanated from his right hand.
A sight you must have seen somewhere.
While watching the scene, Iris felt that her vision was gradually blurring.
As the three of them disappeared from their seats at breakneck speed and clashed with a loud noise, Iris closed her eyes.
.
.
.
“······Reese! Iris!”
“Ah…”
I opened my eyes again.
She couldn’t help opening her eyes at the sound of her voice calling me anxiously.
There was Schluss staggering towards the place where he turned his head with difficulty.
Wearing a school uniform that has become rags, his whole body is covered in blood.
Why did you fight until that point…?
“Damn it. Hold on, Iris!”
Schlus knelt down in front of me, laid me on my back, and squeezed the wound on my stomach.
Then he immediately took a bottle out of his pocket and opened the cap with his mouth.
I could tell just by looking at that unusual bottle.
An elixir, a panacea that cures all diseases.
No wait.
If I stop the bleeding, I can live long enough.
I don’t need to eat that much.
“Ah… Ah… Ah… Ah…”
“Shut up and open your mouth.”
The lips didn’t listen.
I couldn’t speak properly because my strength was completely drained.
Schlus made a troubled look on his face, then poured the elixir into his mouth and-
“Umm… Uhm…”
He kissed me and fed me the elixir.
I didn’t forget to keep Schluse’s big tongue in and hold my tongue so it wouldn’t block my esophagus.
The elixir that entered my body with a gulp was absorbed in an instant.
The bleeding in my stomach stopped, my vision became clearer, and my strength began to return.
I felt refreshed.
It’s like a holiday morning when you wake up after a good night’s sleep.
It was only then that the accident that had been pushed back was processed in my head and I was angry.
I got up and grabbed Schluse by the collar.
“What are you doing! Spending an elixir! What the hell are you thinking? Did you know how much this cost?”
“I know. Of course.”
“It was a wound that could have healed enough if he stopped the bleeding! It was enough without using such a precious treasure…”
“Iris. What was the percentage chance of you fully recovering when you didn’t use the elixir?”
“90, No, 99 percent.”
“You couldn’t gamble with your life as long as there was a 1 percent chance.”
“·······.”
I was at a loss for words to stop.
Come to think of it, Schluss didn’t even try to examine the seriousness of my wounds.
My wound was serious and I was thinking of using the elixir regardless.
For one bottle, a war breaks out and the country buys and sells the ultimate treasure for me…
“Why······. Why······.”
“Because unlike you, I am a cunning yet extremely ordinary human being who cannot love everyone equally and only cares about those around me. If I were like you, I would have long ago thrown this elixir at the hospital for an unknown patient with an incurable disease. You must have come. But I’ve been saving this all along. For a foolish woman who can’t even look at her own future because she’s only worried about the welfare of others.”
Who cares only about the welfare of others…?
There were many things I wanted to say in return.
There were many things I wanted to ask.
But for now, I decided to stay still in Schlust’s arms.
I touched and felt his warm, sticky blood.
It’s embarrassing, but I didn’t want to treat Schluse’s wounds yet.
Then lest he regain his strength and let me go.
I’m afraid they won’t lean on me anymore.
I just want to wish that this time would last forever, but that shouldn’t be the case.
I ripped his face off Iman Schluss’s chest.
I met his empty eyes as I poured healing magic from my fingertips.
“Schlus. I’m going to get drunk on the elixir and talk nonsense. Will you forget it?”
“Was there alcohol in the elixir? I’ve never heard of getting drunk with an elixir-“
“I love you.”
“·······.”
Ah. Said. Have said
An awkward silence hung between us.